School Issues
by AkuRoku18
Summary: Claus is new to Sora, Roxas, and Yugi's school. He's thrust into situations he didn't ask for. And worse yet, he likes someone from a different social status. Will he even survive this school year? KH, Last Exile, YGO, and FF crossover. Review please!
1. Chapter 1

**School Issues**

**Chapter 1**

Sora was leaning back in hi chair during his first period class. Science was never his favorite subject, so this wasn't helping. Sora was a tall, lanky kid with spiky brown hair and blue eyes. Sitting next to him were his two best friends: Yugi and Roxas. Yugi was short with pointy tri-colored hair and amethyst colored eyes. Roxas was as tall as Sora with equally spiky blonde hair and the exact same blue eyes.

"Sora! Face the front and pay attention!" the teacher, Mr. Kadaj, yelled. Sora toppled over backwards in his chair. Everyone in class laughed at him.

"Owww…that scared the ever loving outta me…" Sora mumbled as he rubbed his head; he hit it on the back of an empty desk.

"You're such a klutz, Sora," Roxas chuckled. Sora glared at him.

"Now then, today we have a new student joining us. Say hello to Claus Valca," Mr. Kadaj continued. A shy-looking, tall-ish kid walked up to the front of the class. He had mid-length dirty blonde hair and silvery blue eyes. The head of the popular kids, Seto Kaiba, stared evilly at Claus. Sora saw this and knew exactly what that meant. He glanced over at Yugi and Roxas. They also knew what was coming.

_That kid is gonna get his ass handed to him by those snot-heads, _Sora thought.

"So, Claus. Tell us about your self," said Mr. Kadaj. Claus looked around nervously.

"O-ok. Um…I come from Norkia…um…there's not much to tell about me…so that's basically it…" Claus said quietly.

"Alright. There's an empty seat behind Sora. That'll be where you sit." Mr. Kadaj pointed to the desk behind the brown haired teen. Claus nodded and went back to his seat. On the way there, someone stuck out their foot and tripped the new kid, sending him to the floor. All of the popular kids laughed at Claus while he got up slowly and found his desk. Mr. Kadaj didn't notice any of this for he was writing some science gibberish on the board.

"Hey, man. Don't sweat it. All of the popular kids pick on us, too," Sora whispered to Claus while Mr. Kadaj was blabbing about astronomy. "Meet me and my friends after Mr. Star-head finishes yapping." Claus nodded again. The rest of class went well; no one was spitting spit-wads at Sora and Pals or anything else. After class was finally over, Claus met up with Sora, Roxas, and Yugi.

"Hey, dude. What's up?" Sora asked happily.

"Uh…"

"Hey, I 'spose we should introduce ourselves. I'm Sora, the shrimp-y one is Yugi ("I'm not a shrimp!"), and the blondie is Roxas. And, before you ask, we aren't brothers."

"Ok…well, you already know me, but, I'm Claus," Claus said, putting his hand out. Sora smiled and shook it. That's when bad trouble started.

"How cute. All of the little shits in our school are being little shit buddies," Kaiba drawled as he and his gang walked lazily up to Sora and Pals.

"What do you want, high-and-mighty Kaiba?" Sora jeered. Leon, a brusque guy with dark brown hair, loomed over Sora. Sora shied away, and Claus actually stepped forward.

"I can tell by your cowardly behavior that you all are a gang. Who gave you the power to rule over us? Only cowards like you use your status to pick on other people like us. Now, piss off, you yellow bastards," Claus growled. Leon snapped and used a swift and extremely powerful uppercut to shut Claus up. He fell over and Sora attacked, but he was thrown off by another member. Xemnas was the one to keep Sora at bay. He was about to give Sora what he 'deserved,' but then the bell rang.

"Just you wait, you little shits. We'll get you." With that, Kaiba and his gang walked off.

"Oww…that son of a-gyaaah! Kaiba needs to die in a pit of acid, or get murdered or something, dammit!" Sora snarled. He looked over at Claus, Yugi, and Roxas. Sora sighed heavily.

"Alright, I'll take him to the nurse. You guys go to class."

Yugi and Roxas looked at each other and nodded. Sora lifted Claus to his feet and carry-dragged him to the nurse.

"Hey, man. You still alive?" Sora asked worriedly. Claus coughed a little, with a little blood. A good sign he was alive, but Sora still picked up his pace.

"Yo! Nurse-chick-lady? Tifa? Are ya in here?" Sora called into the white room of the nurse. A black haired man appeared, much to Sora's surprise.

"Tifa's not here today. But you can call me Mr. Zack Fair," Zack said. He gasped a little when he saw Clause. "Oh, god! What happened to him?"

"Those damned, snot-headed, populars did this," Sora growled. His tone lightened when he said, "Can you make him feel better?" Zack narrowed his eyes, muttering to himself.

"Aaah…what would Tifa do?" Zack wondered out loud, scratching his head.

_This guy has no idea what he's doing!_ Sora thought irritably. He walked into Tifa's office and found a small refrigerator. He was relieved when he found some ice-pack in the fridge. He rushed back over to Claus, lifted him onto a bed, and stuck the ice-pack on his jaw.

"That's what you do, Zack," Sora said agitatedly.

"Ah. That would be a good thing to memorize," Zack said to himself, whipping out a little notebook. He quickly wrote down something or other. "See, I'm just a trainee. I don't know everything that Tifa would. I'm just learning." Zack looked at the clock. "You should probably get to class. I'll do my best to look after your friend."

"Alright. Thanks, Zack." Sora walked out of the nurse's office, looking around every corner to make sure no one would attack him.

He was walking past a men's bathroom when he heard a, "Hey!" Sora turned to see the druggies Xaldin, Marluxia, and Larxene. Sora froze, knowing full well that he couldn't run anywhere; the drug addicts would just get him after school.

"Uh…hi. What's up?" Sora asked cautiously. Xaldin and Marluxia loomed over Sora.

"You know what's up. You haven't paid us for letting you out of our custody," Xaldin said evilly. Marluxia nodded vigorously.

"Oh, gimme a break. You know that I gave you your 'release fee.' You just smoke too much dope. You can't remember a damn thing," Sora said harshly. Xaldin grabbed Sora's shirt and shoved up against the wall.

"That's not what I mean. You see, we're running out of money to buy crack. Since we know that you're VERY contributing, we figured you'd give us more money!" Xaldin's breath was terrible, and Sora had to breathe it in.

Sora growled, "Get a job, druggie!" Xaldin punched Sora in the ribs. The younger teen slumped to the floor, and Xaldin and Marluxia proceded to beat the crap out of Sora.

When they finally finished, they shoved Sora into a toilet stall and duct-taped the door shut.

"Maybe that'll teach you to not meet our demands," Xaldin hissed. The three of the drug addicts slouched off, leaving Sora in the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Roxas and Yugi were getting antsy in their class.

"Dude, Sora hasn't come back yet," Roxas whispered to Yugi.

"Yeah. He should've been back by now. I know I'll sound like his mother, but, I'm

getting worried," Yugi murmured back.

"Should we ditch?"

"No! Wait 'till the end of class. THEN we'll find him."

"Got it." The two of them waited until the end of History (taught by Mr. Cid Highwind).When the bell rang, they immediately ran around the school, looking for Sora.

"Hey, what if the drug addicts got him?" Yugi panted; he and Roxas had been running around for awhile.

"If that's the case, then Sora's screwed," a new voice said. Yugi and Roxas saw that the voice belonged to Axel. Next to him was his almost twin Reno. They both were red-heads with green eyes.

"How do you know that?" Roxas challenged.

"Trust us. You don't know Xaldin and his flunkeys like we do," Reno said calmly, but his eyes betrayed him; he was clearly worried about Sora.

"Where would Xaldin and the other druggies hide a person?" Yugi asked quietly and thoughtfully.

"The bathroom, where else?" Axel answered.

"But which one? There are TONS of bathrooms in this school!" Roxas exclaimed. Axel and Reno both looked at each other.

"Well, where's the bathroom where the druggies are always hanging out?" Yugi shrugged and Roxas looked at the floor in thought. Then, it came to him.

"Is it the one near Mrs. Gainsborough's room?" Roxas asked.

"That's the one!" Reno said. "So why are we standing around chatting like old ladies?" Reno zoomed of to the restroom. Axel, Roxas, and Yugi followed Reno as fast as they could. Eventually, they all came to the druggie's bathroom. They looked inside the terrible room. It reeked of marijuana and there was graffiti all over the stained white walls. On the floor was dried and fresh blood. They also saw a duct-taped stall door.

"Sora? Sora! Are you in there?" Roxas began banging on the door. When there was no response, Roxas started to tear off the duct-tape and threw the door open. Sora was passed out and slumped against the toilet and blood was everywhere. Roxas retched at the sight of his best friend. He ran to the next stall over and puked.

"Oh, dear god…" Yugi said in horror. Roxas stumbled out of the other stall.

"T-those…bastards…" Roxas muttered while he wiped his mouth. "They'll pay for this!" There was a scuffing noise as someone walked in. Axel whipped around, fists raised. Claus backed up, away from Axel's hostility.

"Zack let me out the nurse's office and I heard some people talking. So I came…what in hell happened?" Claus asked, shocked.

"Those damned pot-heads did this to Sora," Yugi said furiously. Claus didn't wait for anything else to be said. He briskly walked over to the seemingly dead body of Sora, picked him up, and carried him to Zack.

"Damn…that kid is strong," Axel said in disbelief. The four teens walked out of the bathroom and went straight to Zack's office.

"So you're back, huh, Claus? You need something or…holy god…" Zack trailed off, looking at Sora. Zack got up quickly and gingerly took Sora from Claus, placing the brown haired teen's limp body on the same bed that Claus was on.

"Is he gonna live?" Claus asked, concerned for his friend. Zack furrowed his brow.

"For now, he needs to be patched up really well. I'll bring in someone else in to take a better look at Sora. But, he should live," Zack confirmed as he got some medical supplies.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Sora finally awoke to see Claus's silvery eyes staring intently into his own blue ones.

"C-Claus? Where am I?" Sora rasped. Claus looked extremely happy because Sora, after hours of being half-dead, talked.

"You're in Zack's office, Sora. We found you in the druggie's bathroom," Claus answered. "What happened to you?" Sora sighed heavily.

"Well, the LAST thing I remember was being attacked by Xaldin and Marluxia."

"Hmmm…..well, anyway, Axel and Reno helped Roxas and Yugi find you. I just kinda came at the last minute….." Claus trailed off and Sora looked at him funny. Zack strode over to check on Sora.

"Ah! Sora, you're awake! That's good. I brought someone with me to do a better check up for you," Zack said. A tall man with pointy blonde hair and deep blue eyes walked in the room.

"My name is Dr. Cloud Strife. Zack told me that one of his students was injured, so, here I am," Cloud said. He took a good look at the teen. The doctor even ordered Sora to take his shirt off, much to his embarrassment.

"You need to stay home a few days," Cloud concluded. "You've suffered severe bruising, 4 cracked ribs, and cuts from some sort of knife. The cuts aren't that deep, but still enough to keep you at home." Sora sighed again and gritted his teeth while he pulled his shirt back on. The final bell rang loudly, and Sora sighed for a third time.

"Ah, man…I missed all of school today…" Sora got up slowly with an, "Ow." Suddenly, Roxas, Yugi, Axel, and Reno burst in the room.

"Sora!" Yugi tackle-glomped Sora, sending him to the ground, opening wounds again. "Oops…" Yugi mumbled.

"Aarrg…I see mom waving at me at the end of a bright tunnel…" Sora murmured. Roxas jabbed Yugi with his elbow.

"Good job, Yugi. You killed him even more!" Roxas exclaimed. The blonde got Sora to his feet. "Urg…guess I'll have to take him home. See ya."

Reno said, "Nah, we'll come with you. Just to make sure nothin' happens." They all got out of school with no problems. Eventually, they came to Sora's house.

"Alright. I'll be fine from here on out," Sora said. "No, really, I'll be OK."

"Ok. See ya tomorrow." Roxas, Yugi, Axel, and Reno waved goodbye, but Claus stayed behind.

"Are…are you sure you'll be OK?" Claus asked. Sora grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, it'll be alright! Don't worry about nothing!" Sora lied. He knew that life at home was just as bad as it was at school.

"Ok…if you say so…see you, Sora." Claus walked off to his house. Sora dropped the act and sighed as he walked into his house.

"SORA! Where the HELL have you been?" Sora dodged a plate thrown by his father, Sephiroth. Sora snuck past his father and found his younger brother, Ven, sitting on the couch doing his homework.

"I guess Dad's in a pissy mood, huh?" Sora asked Ven. Ven nodded silently.

"Yup. He said he had a crappy day at work," Ven replied. Ven looked exactly like Roxas, only shorter.

"Where's Vanitas?"

"Up in his room. Probably doesn't wanna deal with Dad in such a hissy fit."

"Well, OK. I'll go up with Vanitas. It'd be a good if you do the same thing, lil' bro." Ven nodded and picked up his textbook for math. Sora and Ven went upstairs while Sephiroth raged on. The two brothers came into Vanitas's room.

"What do you two want?" Vanitas asked. Vanitas was the oldest brother, looking identical to Sora except with spiky black hair and yellow-orange eye.

Sora said, "We don't wanna die yet, that's all."

Vanitas shrugged and said, "That makes sense. He's in a shitty mood today. I mean, more than usual." He turned back to his homework.

The phone rang in Vanitas's room and Ven went to get it.

"Hello? Oh, hi, Roxas. You wanna talk to Sora? Ok, hold on. Sora! It's for you." Ven handed the phone to Sora.

"Yo, Roxas," Sora greeted.

"Hey, Sora. I wanted to give you the homework for tonight," Roxas said. Sora groaned; his dreams of having a peaceful three days were crushed.

"Dammit. C'mon, I'm mortally wounded, here. Why do I still have to do homework?"

"Suck it up, princess." Ven and Vanitas heard that comment over the phone and snickered. Sora scowled at them both.

"Alright…what is it?"

"Algebra, oh…and, uh, history. Also we have geography." Sora wrote all of that down on a random piece of paper.

"Got it. Thanks a lot, Roxas. See ya at school."

"Bye, princess." Roxas said humouredly. Sora hung up the phone.

"Better get on your homework, princess!" Ven chuckled. Sora growled and threw his pencil at Ven.

"Hey, if Roxas calls you 'princess,' can I call you 'cupcake?'" Vanitas asked jokingly.

"Both of you, just shut up," Sora hissed. He began to work on the homework.

**Te he he he! Kinda a filler chapter...but a chapter nonetheless! Chapter 3 will be up later today!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

A couple days later, Claus was standing in the lunch line, waiting to get some ramen, when someone shoved him out of the way.

"Move it shrimp!" a high pitched voice said. Claus, on the floor, looked at a pair of high-heeled shoes. He then raised his gaze to see four popular kids standing over him. The one who pushed him out of the way was Delphine, the darker skinned one was Marik, there was Yazoo, and finally the red head Lavi. Claus stared unbelievingly at the girl, but his goggling was interrupted when a high heeled foot kicked him in the face.

"I said, move it, you little piece of-" Delphine was cut off when Yugi whisked Claus away to a table.

"Oww…that hurt…" Claus ran his fingers over the spot where Delphine kicked him. There was a fresh cut there and he sighed sadly.

"Why do all of the popular kids hate us so much?" Claus asked. Out of the corner of his eye, Claus saw the pendant around Yugi's neck gleam slightly. The short teen changed almost into a completely different person.

"Don't worry about it too much," Yami said. He pulled out a mini First Aid kit and handed it to Claus. "Here, patch yourself up." Claus wasn't sure if he should be grateful or scared towards the alter ego of Yugi. He still got a band-aid and stuck it over his cut. Claus handed the box back to Yami and he stowed the box in his bag.

"Um…thanks, Yugi. You ARE Yugi, right?" the dirty blonde teen asked casually.

Yami tilted his head to one side like a dog and said, "Well…kind of. I guess Yugi hasn't explained what this pendant is." Claus leaned forward eagerly; he was interested in the pendant. Yami cleared his throat professionally, and said, "Eight years ago, Yugi's grandfather, Sugoroku Mutou, gave Yugi a box with the Millennium Puzzle inside of it. It took Yugi eight years to solve the Millennium Puzzle, and when he finished it, my soul fused with his."

Claus let out a low whistle. "Wow," was all he said. His gaze drifted over to the popular kid's table. He was looking at Lavi again.

"She's pretty…" Claus murmured. Yami looked where Claus was and saw the red-head.

"Yeah…but she's a popular. She'd never go for you." Claus didn't hear Yami's comment; he was too busy staring at Lavi. Sora and Roxas came up and sat next to Claus and Yami.

"Yo. What's up guys?" Sora asked cheerfully. He noticed that Claus was goggling at something or other. "Whatcha starin' at, Claus?"

Claus kept gazing at Lavi until he finally detected Sora hovering over him. "Huh? What? Oh, hi, Sora," he said absentmindedly.

"Heh heh…sounds like someone's in looove!" Reno and Axel then walked over to Sora and Pals. Reno was the one to make that comment.

Claus blushed deeply and said defensively, "I'm not in love!" Sora, Roxas, and Yami snickered.

"Pfft. Yeah, whatever. But, anyway, all jokes aside, what happened to your face?" Axel asked, pointing to the band-aid on Claus's face.

"Oh, that…uh…well…" Claus stuttered, so Yami quickly took over the conversation.

"Delphine got him. That's it," Yami answered for Claus. The pointy haired male turned to Claus and said, "Don't be afraid to talk to us." Claus nodded shyly.

"Ok, I will," Claus promised. Someone walked up next to everyone's table.

"Do you mind if I sit with you guys?" a British accented voice asked. A tall, white haired boy with light green eyes and a funky pendant with the same wedjat as the Millennium Puzzle on it stood next to the table.

"Sure. Ah, who are you, though?" Sora asked.

"Oh, I'm Bakura. Bakura Ryou," Bakura replied. He sat down and began to eat his ramen.

"You new here?" Roxas asked.

Bakura nodded and answered, "Yeah, I was transferred here today." The Millennium Puzzle glowed again, and Yugi went back to normal.

Yugi went on talking like nothing happened. He asked, "So, Bakura. What's that pendant around your neck?"

"Oh. You mean this?" Bakura picked up the pendant. Yugi nodded so Bakura continued, "my father found this while he was in Egypt. He was exploring this tomb or some ancient antechamber or something. Anyway, he found this item. He said it was called the Millennium Ring. He also said it had the power of eternal darkness!" Bakura said the last sentence really creepily, as if he were telling a horror story. "But, that's just a rumor."

"Freaky," Sora said simply. He put his fist into the other palm of his hand suddenly; he just remembered something kind of important. "Right! I forgot to introduce ourselves! I'm Sora, the porcupine-head is Yugi, the bed-head is Roxas("It's natural!"), the quiet one is Claus, and the two red-heads are Axel and Reno."

Bakura nodded to everyone and said cheerfully, "It's nice to officially meet all of you!" Fate decided to throw another obstacle at Sora and Pals; Kaiba and his flunkeys strolled over to our heroes' table.

"'Sup, wee shit heads. Care to give us some money?" Kaiba asked in his drawling voice. Sora snorted disdainfully.

"Yeah, right. Can you care to leave us alone? We're trying to have an intimate moment, here." All of Kaiba's gang members laughed evilly.

"I'll ask you again. Care to give us some money?" asked Kaiba, this time threateningly. Leon loomed over everyone.

Bakura dug around in his pockets and said softly, "I do have some money you can have…" Kaiba held out his hand expectantly.

"Bakura…" Sora said, defeated. He couldn't believe that Bakura would actually meet Kaiba's demands.

The Millennium Ring glowed and Bakura said in a much deeper voice, "Here, let me give you your MONEY!" The evil alter ego of Bakura almost leapt out of his seat and punched Kaiba square in the nose.

"B-Bakura?" Claus said in shock. Leon growled and went straight for Bakura, throwing a punch. Bakura sidestepped Leon, grabbing the larger teen's arm, and threw him to the ground. Bakura was caught off guard when Marik came out of no where and elbowed him in the gut. Leon, recovered by now, grabbed Bakura by his shirt collar and proceeded to kill him. The Millennium Ring glowed again and Bakura reverted back to normal.

"Hey! Let Bakura go!" snarled an angry Axel. The red-head took a textbook and bashed Leon's head with it. Axel was saved from getting brutally murdered by the bell.

"We'll get you yet, you goddamned-" Kaiba was cut off by Cloud.

"What the hell is going on here?" Cloud nearly shouted. Kaiba and his gang ran far, FAR away from the raging doctor.

"I asked you a question; what the hell is going on here?" Cloud asked again, calmer, but still really angry.

Sora replied furiously, "Those damned populars wanted to take our money, but Bakura fought back…" Bakura slowly tried to get up, but Cloud forced him back down.

"Don't you dare try to stand," Cloud growled. Bakura, a little scared by Cloud's ferocity, didn't try to struggle as Cloud carried him to Zack's office. Sora and Pals tailed Cloud like lost puppies all the way there.

After a serious examination back in Zack's office, Cloud said, "Good thing you're a tough kid. You don't have any major injuries except for some mild bruising."

Bakura laughed a little and said, "I'm used to it. I got beat up a lot in my old school." The door opened suddenly (hitting Roxas on the back of his head) and Tifa burst in with Zack behind her.

"What happened here, all of you?" Tifa asked heatedly. Everyone backed away except for Claus and Bakura. Bakura couldn't really move for he was confined to his bed and Claus was just confused.

"Erm…nothing?" Roxas said meekly, rubbing his head. Tifa sighed heavily.

"I can't believe all of this was happening while I was gone…" Tifa shook her head sadly and said, "I'm sorry I wasn't here; I had other things to do."

"It's fine. Besides, Zack did well filling in for you," Sora said, winking at Zack. The raven haired male's eyebrow twitched; he knew Sora was being sarcastic. But, then he thought he would get more praise this way, so he shrugged it off (for now). Everyone left Bakura with Tifa, Zack, and Cloud to go back to their last three classes. The last three hours passed really slowly, until finally the bell rang. The rest of the class rushed to get out of school while Sora and Pals rushed to Tifa's office. They found Bakura being led out by Zack.

"Come back if you need to, ok?" Zack told Bakura. He saw all of Bakura's friends come up and he continued, "Oh, and Sora, (Sora snapped to attention mockingly) that was a pretty stupid lie. You know I can't be as good as Tifa."

"Well, maybe not. But, if you try hard enough, you will be as good as her. Who knows, maybe even better," Sora said wisely.

"Oh, boy. I know something's wrong when someone fifteen years younger than I am starts being wiser than I am," Zack joked.

"Pffft…yeah, right! See ya, Zack!" Sora called as he and his friends walked off.

Outside, the first thing Bakura said to them after his 'discipline' was, "Did we get any homework?" Practically everyone stared at the white haired teen like he was crazy.

"Uh…no. But how can you possibly care about that? I mean, you got beaten to a pulp! Who can care about homework after something like that happened?" Sora exclaimed, thinking Bakura was basically insane.

"I **do** have an academic future to think about, you know. I guess I'll see you all tomorrow!" Bakura ran off to his house. Claus was looking around for something or other. He finally found who he was looking for; he saw Lavi sitting by herself.

"Hey!" Claus called as he ran over to greet her. She looked up at him.

She said, "Oh. Oh right! You're that person that Delphine attacked. You alright?"

Claus shrugged, "Yeah, it's nothing." Unknown to Claus and Lavi, Sora, Reno, and Axel were spying on them behind a bush.

"So, uh, anyway, why do you hang out with the popular kids? You don't seem like the rest of them…" Lavi quickly put a finger to Claus's lips and looked around nervously.

"Listen. I can't tell you right here; the rest of them might attack you," the red-head whispered. Claus nodded and blushed slightly.

"O-Ok. Uh, can I, erm…take you somewhere? You know, for, uh, activities? We can talk in a more…uh…private place…" Lavi tilted her head and looked at Claus funny.

Claus looked down in embarrassment and thought, _Oh, dammit…the first girl I meet and I can't even form a good sentence! Claus, you idiot!_ He was brought back to reality when Lavi basically burst out laughing. _Well, at least you made her laugh out of your own stupidity…_

"Sure! I don't have a ride anyway. I could go with you for an 'activity,'" Lavi said.

"Uh, well, I don't have a divers license yet, but I'll be getting my learners permit soon," Claus said. He felt a little better because Lavi had actually considered his offer.

Lavi said, "That's fine if you can't drive yet. We can just walk to your 'private place.' Besides, walking's good for you!" Both of them laughed as the walked to a coffee shop. Sora, Axel, and Reno stepped out from behind the bush.

"She'll be the death of him. I swear, a popular and an un-popular going out? Kinda fishy if ya ask me…" Sora scoffed.

Reno was romantically swooning in the background. "But, it's true love! You can tell they like each other!"

"Whatever. You're just love-sick, Reno. Ever since your last girl-friend, Yuffie, dumped you-" Axel started, but was cut off by a smack and Reno shouting at him(A/N: this would be a good time for Sora to sweat-drop). Axel went off back home with an angry Reno and Sora, Roxas, and Yugi headed off to the coffee shop; they usually went there after school, anyway.

Meanwhile, at the coffee shop, Claus and Lavi were quietly sitting, drinking some coffee. The door opened, and Sora, Roxas, and Yugi came waltzing in (A/N: not literally waltzing; it's a figure of speech! :D).

"Yo, Claus! Mind if we join ya?" Sora asked happily, not waiting for an answer as he sat down heavily next to Claus. Roxas sat next to Sora and Yugi decided to sit with Lavi. The coffee shop owner, Demyx, came by and was surprised to see so many people in one booth.

Demyx smiled happily and said, "I guess I oughta get some more coffee for my 'honored guests.'" The mullhawked male bowed mockingly and quickly got more coffee. Demyx liked seeing old friends; he had known Sora, Roxas, and Yugi since they were all in 6th grade. Now, Demyx was graduated and was raising money for a good collage.

"Thanks, Dem! Here's some extra money for ya." Sora slapped some money on the table. It was three dollars for a cup of coffee, and Sora gave Demyx fifteen dollars. Demyx gratefully accepted the money.

"So, Lavi, Uh, these are my friends Sora, Roxas, and Yugi," Claus said, gesturing to each of his friends.

"Yeah, I know. I've seen you guys before; Kaiba always drags me along with his gang."

"You don't like being in their group?" Yugi asked curiously.

Lavi shook her head and said, "Nah, not really. At first they were alright. Believe it or not, the gang was actually pretty nice. Then, Kaiba came and turned everything upside-down. After Kaiba came, everyone became seriously annoying and out of hand. I really, truly want to leave, but if I do leave to be with, say, you guys, Kaiba and his flunkeys will probably come after me." Claus stood up abruptly, shaking the table and startling everyone, even Demyx. Claus looked around, slightly embarrassed, and sat back down.

"Sorry, guys. Sorry I startled you," Claus muttered. He was REALLY angry Kaiba's gang would dare to hurt a girl. A guy was probably one thing, but a girl? Demyx went back to serving people coffee.

"What was that about?" Roxas asked, still a little shocked.

Claus shook his head and said, "It's nothing. Forget it." Sora shrugged it off, and went back to his drink. Claus was still enraged, even if he didn't show it.

_How can Kaiba do that? Would he really come after Lavi, just because she would leave his group? Grr…he should attack someone else, not Lavi…maybe he should attack ME instead…at least, that way, Lavi would be safe… _Claus was probably wrapped up in his thoughts for awhile because when he finally came back to reality, everyone was finished. Claus was brought back when Sora was poking him repeatedly in the side.

"Yo, Claus. We're done, man. It's time to leave." Everyone was getting up out of the booth.

"Oh, alright…" Claus got up as well. They all waved good-bye to Demyx and they all parted ways to go home. Claus and Lavi walked home together.

"Wait…why are you going this way?" Claus asked. He never had a girl, or anyone, really, follow him home before.

"Well, let's see…maaaaybe it's because I live over here, smart one! I'm in your neighborhood!" Lavi chuckled. Claus blushed in his own stupidity and because he realized something; he was in love with Lavi.

* * *

**ooooooh! i get the line thing now! :D ok, anyway. my apologies that it took so long to update this one freakin chapter! :D  
Enjoy! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It had been a few weeks since Claus accepted his feelings for Lavi. They walked to school together, did homework together, in short, they did basically EVERYTHING together. So today, everyone was working in the library on a huge project; it required Sora, Roxas, Yugi, Axel, Reno, Claus, Lavi, and Bakura to finish it.

"Aaarg…this sucks, why do we have to do a WHOLE report on the friggin' Constitution of Radiant Gardens? How could Mr. Highwind do this to us?" Sora stated angrily as he banged his head on the table.

"Well, it's true that Mr. Highwind's been giving us more work, but this IS our first semester final," Yugi said while writing, not looking up from his work. Axel and Reno nodded in agreement.

"Seriously, princess, get that tiara out of your ass," Roxas muttered. Sora chucked his papers at Roxas and, while he was distracted, threw his pencil bag at poor Roxas as well. Everyone snickered as the two started throwing harmless things at each other.

Seeing that this was the perfect opportunity, Claus leaned over to Lavi and asked, "Hey, after we're done here, d'you want to come over to my place to work a little more?"

Lavi shrugged and said, "Well, I'm not so sure about the working part, but I wouldn't mind just going over to your place. My parents won't be home 'til really late tonight and I'm sure they won't mind if I stay at a friend's house for 'educational' purposes." Claus laughed at her remark.

Bakura glanced over at the clock. "Oh, hey! It's 4:30! We can go home!" he announced. Everyone began to put textbooks away, hastily stash papers in folders, and push their chairs in. Sora and Pals met outside school to say their goodbyes for the day.

"So, uh, when is this stupid report due, Yugi?" Sora asked. Yugi checked his daily planner. Usually, you could always come to Yugi for assignments; he was a good child and wrote everything down.

"End of the week on Friday. That isn't long from now," he confirmed. Sora groaned loudly. It was Wednesday.

"Ah, man…um, so can we agree to staying after school again tomorrow to finish the report?" Everyone nodded simultaneously. "Ok, see y'all tomorrow, then." Sora went off in the direction of his house with Roxas behind him.

"Yup. See ya, Claus. You too, Lavi." Axel and Reno walked briskly away from school. Bakura waved goodbye and trotted of to his house. Claus and Lavi began to walk, but they were cut off by Xaldin, Marluxia, and Larxene.

"Crap. What do you want?" Claus asked disdainfully. Xaldin and Marluxia stepped aside and Kaiba walked up.

"Hey, Lavi. So, is everything I heard true? Are you wussing out on our group, just to be with this little shit?" Kaiba asked lazily. Claus stepped in between Kaiba and Lavi, growling slightly. Xaldin lunged forward and grabbed Claus's shirt collar, lifting him a couple inches off the ground.

"Don't you DARE interfere with Master Kaiba's business!" Xaldin hissed.

"Go to hell!" Claus growled back. Unexpectedly, Xaldin whipped out a switchblade and jabbed Claus in the gut with it.

"Claus!" Lavi shrieked as Claus was dropped to the ground. Lavi ran up to Xaldin and clocked him in the jaw. He backed off, putting a hand where Lavi had hit him. Kaiba snorted, whisked around, and walked off.

"Claus? Claus, are you ok?" Lavi was on the ground next to Claus.

He coughed up some blood. "Erg…not the worst injury I've ever had…" Lavi immediately knew he was lying. He continued, "Grr…damned Xaldin…he'll pay for that…" Claus drifted into the darkness of unconsciousness. Lavi quickly lifted him up onto his feet and dragged him to Sora's house (A/N: Sora's house is the closest out of everyone). She banged on the door urgently.

"Alright! Alright! Hold your friggin' horses! I'm comin'…holy god…" Sora paled considerably when he saw the sight of one of his friends looking pretty dead. He suddenly looked and sounded more serious when he said, "Come on. I can drive my dad's car. We gotta take him to Cloud, right away." Lavi nodded and dragged Claus into the backseat of Sephiroth's car. Sora looked around quickly and pulled a keychain out of his pocket with the key to the car. He started the car and drove very fast down the road to get Claus to the hospital. But, Sora drove a bit TOO fast and was pulled over by the police.

"Show me your license, sir," the chief of police, Seifer, ordered sternly.

Sora gritted his teeth and snarled, "This is the wrong time, Seifer! One of my friends could be dying! I have to take him to Cloud RIGHT NOW!" He almost shouted the last words out. Seifer looked in the backseat and saw Claus and the condition he was in. Seifer immediately went back to his car and pulled up next to Sora.

"I understand. Follow me now. I'll clear a path for you, should we cross any traffic," Seifer said in his usual stern voice. He started to drive very fast and he turned on his police sirens. Sora sped after Seifer. They both eventually arrived at the hospital. Seifer got out of his car and ran to where Sora hastily parked.

As Sora lifted Claus out of the back, he whispered, "You saved me back when Xaldin hurt me. Now I'm gonna save you." He hauled the unmoving body of Claus out of the car and carry-dragged him inside the hospital.

"Cloud? Cloud, where the hell are you?" Sora shouted, startling the lady at the front desk. A door opened somewhere and Cloud came quickly around the corner of the hall.

"Sora, what's wrong? What happened?" Not waiting for an answer, Cloud whisked Claus away into a white room. Sora didn't take another step closer; he hated hospitals with his body and soul.

"I-I'll call everyone here, if only to get out of this sterile, white, soulless place," Sora said with pure hatred, rushing out of the building to find a pay-phone. That left Lavi to find a bench in the hospital. She found one and sat down, alone.

_What if…what if Claus dies? Then his death would be MY fault! He can't die. He just can't! I don't think I would be able to go on without him…_ Lavi was about ready to bawl her eyes out, but a black haired man came and sat down with her.

"Who are you?" Lavi asked quietly. The stranger turned and looked Lavi straight in the eye strictly.

His gaze softened when he said somberly, "My name is Alex Row. I'm Claus's godfather."

"Godfather? Claus doesn't have any parents?" Lavi was shocked to learn that a kid so strong emotionally didn't have a true family.

"No, he doesn't. His parents died in a tragic accident about a year after he was born. He was also involved in the accident, but he survived, amazingly. In his parent's will, they said in the event of their deaths Claus was to be raised by me. He never truly knew his parents," Alex explained sadly. He put his head in his hands. "He can't die yet…he's too young…" The moment was interrupted when Cloud came out of the white room.

"You don't have to worry. He's going to live," Cloud informed Alex and Lavi. Just then, everyone that Sora called burst into the hospital. Everyone included Axel, Reno, Bakura, Yugi, and Roxas with Sora hanging back.

"Is Claus OK?" Axel asked.

"Who the hell did this?" Roxas growled.

"He won't die, will he?" Reno asked frantically.

"What exactly happened?" asked Bakura, as calmly as he could. Yugi looked around nervously; he didn't particularly like hospitals, either.

"Cloud put up his hands and tried to answer everyone's questions. "Claus is fine, he won't die. I don't know who did this to him. It looks like he was stabbed with a knife. What kind of knife, I'm not entirely sure what sort of knife, but one large enough to cause severe damage." Sora was being brave and came up next to Lavi.

"You were with Clause before he was attacked, right?" Sora asked. Lavi nodded miserably. "What happened to him?"

"We were going home when Xaldin, Marluxia, Larxene, and Kaiba showed up. He wanted to know if I really left his gang or not, and Claus stepped in to defend me," Lavi explained quietly. Then she started to cry slightly, "then Xaldin stabbed him…" Sora suddenly whipped around and ran out of the hospital, leaving everyone behind. Eventually, he came to an abandoned warehouse where Kaiba's gang hung out.

"Kaiba! Are you in here?" Sora shouted, his yell echoing off of the rusty iron walls. Kaiba and the rest of his gang came around some old crates.

Kaiba drawled, "What do you want, you shit-head?" Xaldin and Marluxia glared devilishly at Sora, but he wasn't intimidated like they had hoped.

"I don't want to fight you. I wanna make a deal with you," Sora said calmly. Everyone cackled evilly at Sora's remark. Kaiba snorted agitatedly and held up his hand, shutting everyone up.

"Don't attack my friends anymore," Sora growled.

Kaiba sneered, "Why should I?" Sora gulped tensely.

"I'll join your gang if you stop attacking my friends." Kaiba raised an eyebrow, interested in Sora's offer. "I won't hang out with my friends and I won't even acknowledge them if you just let me join you. Please, I don't want my friends to get hurt…please, Kaiba…" Sora looked at the floor, fists clenched. Kaiba looked a little thoughtful, and he walked up to Sora.

"Fine. If you really care that much about your little friends, show me." Sora hesitated, but then he got on his knees and bowed his head.

"I'll do anything for my friends. I'm begging you Kaiba, don't hurt them," Sora said quietly. Kaiba chuckled wickedly.

"Alright. You're in."

One day later, at the hospital, everyone was gathered around Claus's bed.

"You okay, Claus?" Yugi asked carefully.

Claus nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm fine now. Cloud's taking good care of me." He looked around expectantly. "Where's Sora? Shouldn't he be here?"

Lavi spoke up, "He went off somewhere. I don't know where he ran off to…" Claus narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, alright…" he muttered. He sank into his bed, deep in thought. _I hope he's not trying to get revenge for me…he better not be…grr…I'll go find him myself if I have to! _Claus attempted to get out of his bed and walk out (startling everyone), but he quickly fell on the floor, opening his wound again.

"Claus! Don't be an idiot!" Roxas lifted Claus back onto his bed. "Don't try to go after Sora; you're too weak to do anything right now!" Cloud came back into the room to check on everyone. He dropped the clipboard he was carrying.

"What were you doing in here?" Cloud tried to ask calmly, but his anger was obvious. Claus looked down in embarrassment; he noticed his white shirt was stained with fresh blood. Realization hit him like a punch and he blacked out again. Cloud rushed back into his office and came back with some medical supplies.

"Idiot. He shouldn't be walking for at least a week, maybe more…" Cloud muttered. He shooed all of Claus's friends out of the room.

"Well…it's a HUGE relief he's not dead!" Axel said, trying to make a joke. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I was really, REALLY worried about him," Yugi admitted, sighing relieved.

Reno looked around and asked, "Where IS Sora? Seriously, he at least would have been around for the end…" Roxas furrowed his brow in worry.

"I'll go talk to his brothers; they usually know what Sora does." Roxas ran to Sora's house. He finally got there and knocked on the door. Ven opened the door slowly, saw who was there, and opened the door fully.

"Oh, hi, Roxy. Whatcha doin' here?" Ven greeted, "You wanna come in?"

"Sure. Thanks, Ven." Roxas stepped inside. Ven and Roxas snuck past an angry Sephiroth into Vanitas's room.

"'Sup, Roxas," Vanitas said. He and Roxas did a little fist bump to say 'hello.' "So, what do ya need, Roxy? What can we do for you?"

Roxas asked, "Well…is Sora here?" Vanitas and Ven looked at each other.

"Have you seen him?" Vanitas inquired Ven.

Ven thought about it for a minute, and then answered, "Umm…no. I haven't seen him since yesterday morning." They both turned back to Roxas and answered his question by shaking their heads. Roxas sighed and hung his own head.

"Oh…OK…" His moment was interrupted by Sephiroth's raging.

Vanitas snorted and hissed, "Aarg…you'd better get out of here before Sephiroth beheads you." He opened the window and said, "Go out the window." Roxas jumped out the window and landed in the dumpster. He pulled himself out of the dumpster, suffering from a little bruising. He dusted himself off and ran home.

* * *

**will sora really join kaibas gang for good? or will he come to his senses and leave before anything too bad happens?  
you'll have to find out in the next chapter! :D  
feel free to review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

A long week and a couple days passed and Cloud gave Claus permission to leave the hospital. He returned to school as if nothing happened.

"Finally! Back in school again!" Axel as he slapped Claus on the shoulder.

"Ow…you know, I'm still a little injured, here…" mumbled Claus, not in great pain, but pain nonetheless. The pain went away eventually, but started up again when Lavi tackle-glomped Claus to the ground.

"Claus! You're okay!" Lavi said joyfully. Bakura pulled Lavi off of a startled Claus.

"He's gonna go back to the hospital again if you continue to squish him like that," Bakura said slightly sternly. Claus got up slowly and looked around for something or someone.

"Where's Sora?" Claus asked. Axel and Reno shrugged, Yugi and Bakura looked at each other, and Roxas looked around, trying not to catch anyone's gaze.

"He still hasn't come back from when he ran of somewhere the day you were hospitalized," Lavi said with worry.

Claus looked extremely surprised. "Then, it's been a week? And he hasn't been here? That's not like Sora at all…" Everybody nodded in agreement. The bell rang so everyone had to go their separate ways to first period.

"Meet up after school outside and we'll come up with a plan to find Sora," Roxas told everyone.

The day passed slowly, but finally the last bell rang and Roxas and Pals ran out of school. They all met outside and began to discuss their plans, like Roxas suggested.

"Alright, how 'bout this; we check around all of Sora's hang out spots and ask people around there if they've seen him. Pretty simple and easy, right?" Roxas explained.

"D'you think we should split up?" Reno asked.

Roxas nodded and said, "Yeah, we'll cover more ground that way." Axel and Reno went off in the direction of the skate park, Yugi and Bakura headed off to the Duel Monsters shop, and Roxas went to the coffee shop. That left Claus and Lavi to go to Sora's house. They got there and Claus knocked on the door casually.

Vanitas opened the door and asked, "Who are you? Girl scouts?"

"I'm not a girl scout…" Claus muttered angrily.

Lavi actually answered the question. "We're some of Sora's friends. May we come in?" Vanitas nodded and led the two in. Claus was still a little sore about the whole 'girl scout' thing.

"You'll halfta be quiet; we REALLY don't wanna wake my dad up. He'll throw a hissy fit," Vanitas whispered back to the two. Claus and Lavi nodded silently and snuck into Vanitas's room where Ven was laying on the bed.

"Who are these guys, Vanitas?" Ven asked quizzically.

"They say their some of Sora's buddies," Vanitas answered. He turned to Claus and Lavi and said, "You haven't seen him…have you…"

"How do you know?"

"I can tell by your expressions. You're looking for him."

"Damn…so he isn't here?"

Vanitas shook his head. He tried to change the mood of the conversation by asking, "So, uh, what are your names? Surely you have names."

"Claus Valca," Claus said, and he gestured to Lavi, "and this is Lavi Head."

"Vanitas. Vanitas Miyano, and this is Ventus. He's the youngest brother," Vanitas said.

"Yeah, but don't call me Ventus; that's what my dad calls me. Just call me Ven," said Ven.

"Alright, Ven. Anyway, you haven't seen Sora, either?" Claus asked. Vanitas and Ven both shook their heads.

Vanitas confirmed, "Nope. Like I said, we haven't seen 'cupcake' for almost two weeks." Claus and Lavi shot each other sideways glances with the same thought: _Cupcake?_

"I don't think even Sephiroth has seen Sora. Hell, I bet he doesn't even know Sora exists! Lazy bastard…doesn't even care about his own kids…" Vanitas muttered with pure hatred of Sephiroth.

"Staying on topic, Sora could be over at that girl's house, though," Ven said thoughtfully.

"You idiot! Would he stay over there for two weeks?" Vanitas snorted.

Ven glared at his brother and mumbled, "You never know, Sora does some stupid things sometimes…"

"Wait. You said Sora could be at a girl's house. Who? Which girl?" Lavi asked.

Ven scratched at his blonde spikes. "Um…I think her name was…k…urm…Kairi! That's her name! Kairi!"

Claus looked expectantly at Lavi, but she shook her head.

"Sorry, Claus. I don't know her."

"Man…alright. Thanks, Ven and Vanitas. Sorry for wasting time…" Claus said miserably. Vanitas and Ven led Claus and Lavi out.

"Try to find Sora soon, before Sephiroth really DOES notice that he's gone," Vanitas said.

"Yeah, please find him. I really miss my brother," said a sad Ven, who was looking at the ground.

Claus did his best to reassure Ven. "Don't worry. We'll find him soon. I promise." With that, Claus and Lavi went back into town. A while later, almost everyone was gathered at the town square.

"Did ya find him?" Reno asked. Lavi shook her head sadly.

"We looked at the skate park. Sometimes, Sora likes to go there and hang out. We asked Hayner, Pence and Olette, his skating buddies, if they'd seen him and they said no. So we came back," Axel explained. Yugi and Bakura turned to see Roxas jog up to them.

"Where did you guys look?" Claus asked Yugi and Bakura.

"We looked in the Duel Monsters shop. Every once and while, Sora goes there to improve his deck, but he wasn't getting any cards," Yugi said.

_Duel Monsters? I gotta remember that…_ "Well, what about you, Roxas?" Claus continued.

"I checked at the coffee shop, but Demyx said he hadn't seen Sora in a while."

A familiar drawling voice said, "Oh, my, have you lost something? You poor, poor hapless things…" Kaiba and the rest of his lackeys strolled up to Roxas and Pals.

"Aaarg…do you not understand 'leaving people alone?'" Axel groaned. Roxas got an idea that made him sick to his stomach, but he still looked around all of Kaiba's gang, searching for someone. Unfortunately, he finally found who he was looking for.

"Sora!" Roxas exclaimed. Sora turned his back to Roxas, ignoring him. "Sora, what the hell are you doing with these guys?" Sora stayed silent. "Sora!" Roxas ran up to grab Sora, but Yazoo punched Roxas in the jaw to keep him away from his friend.

"You stay out of this, you little bastard!" Yazoo snarled threateningly.

"You're not coming between me and my friend!" Roxas roared back. He got up of the ground and attacked Yazoo with a punch. The silver haired teen sidestepped Roxas and kicked him in the stomach. Roxas keeled over back on the ground, clutching his gut in pain.

"Roxas!" Axel yelled, running up to his friend. Yazoo snorted and walked off with the rest of the gang.

"Roxas, are you okay?" Yugi asked frantically. Roxas looked up at his concerned friend.

The blonde said quietly, "Yeah, I'm fine, Yugi, don't get your panties in a bunch…I've had worse…" Roxas looked back at the ground furiously. "How can that stupid dimbo, jack-ass, tapioca-brained idiot do this?" He stood up abruptly and shouted after the gang, "YOU MORON, SORA!"

Startled by Roxas's outburst, Claus stammered, "O-Ok, Roxas. Settle down…"

"If Sora wants to be a dumb ass, let him. It's his own damn fault he was with Kaiba, anyway. Don't let him get to you," Reno said calmly. "Let's go." Roxas sighed deeply, and followed everyone away from the square.

Meanwhile, at the warehouse, Sora sat glaring at Yazoo, enraged.

Yazoo noticed this. "What are YOU looking at?" he asked harshly. Sora stood up, walked briskly over to Yazoo, and punched the silver haired teen in the solar plexus as hard as he could.

"That was for Roxas," Sora hissed. Yazoo slumped over, knocked out by Sora's blow. Then, Sora went up to Kaiba and said, "You broke our agreement, Kaiba."

Kaiba snorted, "Hmph. What agreement?"

"You know damn well what our deal was! You said that if I joined your gang, you would leave my friends alone!" an infuriated Sora yelled.

Kaiba got up slowly, grabbed a glove of some sort, and said lowly, "You know, Sora, I don't desire to end my deals in this particular manner. But, in your case…" Kaiba hit Sora in the chest. Blood began to flow freely out of an open wound near Sora's heart. Kaiba continued icily, "I'd prefer killing you rather than letting you waltz out of here. Not after everything you've seen." Sora looked down and saw Kaiba's fist equipped with a glove. On the glove was a steel plate at the knuckles and out of that were four, thick, inch long steel spikes. All of this metal was imbedded in Sora's torso.

_Dammit! I'm gonna die here? _"Kaiba…you…son of a…" Sora coughed up some blood and fell to the floor. The last thing he saw was Kaiba wiping blood off of the deadly spikes.

A couple hours later, Sora awoke outside of Lavi's house. All of Kaiba's flunkeys were looming around him. Sora honestly believed he was dead, so why was he alive?

"W-what are you doing…? Why am I still alive…?" Sora asked weakly. Fortunately, his wound stopped bleeding, but that didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

"Hmph. Luckily enough for you, my punch was lopsided. I didn't quite do as much damage as I had originally hoped," Kaiba answered coldly.

"That's no reason to keep me alive. Didn't you say you wanted to kill me?"

"I'm surprised you remember that, considering you passed out like that."

Sora spat, "I guess I should be flattered."

Kaiba smiled. This wasn't the happy kind of smile. This was more like an evil, malicious kind of grin. He said darkly, "Anyway, we found a worse punishment for you than death. How would you like it if we burned down you're friends house? Then there could be nothing that you could do to stop your friend from dying right in front of you."

"Y-you wouldn't! You couldn't!" Sora was absolutely scared out of his mind. He couldn't let his own friends suffer for his punishment.

"Watch us." Kaiba struck a match against the matchbox and tossed the match at Lavi's house. The flames started small, but grew larger when Leon threw a small canister of oil on the fire. The tiny flames erupted into a roaring inferno, engulfing the little house.

"And now, we're gone," Kaiba chortled. He and his gang ran as far away from the burning building as possible. Sora attempted to stand and run into the house, but he ended up dragging himself across the ground. This act, unfortunately, caused his wound to re-open, streaking the ground with fresh blood.

"Dammit…I'm not gonna let…Lavi die!" Sora growled in anger. Too much adrenaline rushed to his head, the energy he needed surged through him and, without thinking, he stood up and ran blindly into the fire. Lavi's parents ran out of the house as Sora ran in. Claus, who had seen smoke from Lavi's house out of his bedroom window, dashed his friend's blazing home.

"What happened?" Claus asked furiously. Lavi's father pointed at the fiery building. Claus wasn't sure what that meant, but he could make a pretty good, sickening guess: Lavi was still inside. Like Sora, Claus charged into the fire. Meanwhile, Sora had found Lavi in the burning wreckage.

Sora urgently said, "Lavi! We have to get out of here before we get killed!" Lavi nodded quickly. She couldn't (or wouldn't) respond vocally; she had breathed in too much smoke. Miraculously, she hadn't been burned terribly. Sora grabbed Lavi's sleeve and pulled her toward the exit. Suddenly, a small, hidden crossbeam broke away from the ceiling and was falling in Lavi's direction. Sora, in a very action hero moment, shoved Lavi out of the way and allowed the beam to land on his back, nearly crushing him.

"Sora!" Lavi shouted hoarsly. Claus heard the shout and the beam breaking, so he darted to both noises.

"Lavi!" Claus was extremely relieved to see her alive.

"Claus, you have to help Sora! He's stuck under this beam!" Lavi explained quickly, but her statement was stopped by a bout of coughing. Claus looked down and saw Sora under the wood, not completely stuck, but unable to move. The dirty blonde teen lifted the beam off of Sora, sending the burning wood crashing to on side.

While lifting Sora to his feet, Claus said heatedly, "C'mon! The exit's over there!" The three teenagers made it out of the inferno just as the fire department drove in. Roxas was there, too, taking in the scene before him.

"Sora! Claus! Lavi! What the hell happened here?" Roxas asked in shock.

Claus shook his head and replied, "No time for explaining. We've gotta get Sora some medical attention. Now."

"You should, too," Lavi nearly whispered. Claus had just realized that he was almost covered, head to toe, in burns. Adrenaline went and exhaustion came. Claus would have collapsed if Roxas hadn't supported him.

The only thing a little wrong with that scene was the sleek, red, V-10 powered Dodge Viper with a silver haired teenager sitting at the wheel. He pulled up to the bedraggled, burned group. "Hey. If you need a ride, just hop in, OK?" the teen said coolly. "And, please, call me Riku."

* * *

**So Kaiba has attempted to punished Sora in the worst possible way. What he didn't plan was the gang actually surviving!  
But, Kaiba's not down yet. He still has one trick up his sleeve to make Sora and Pals succumb to his evilness!  
What are Sora and Pals going to do? Find out on the next chapter of 'School Issues!'**

**Review if you want! :D Cheers!  
**


End file.
